SAITAMA, Japan – It can pay – literally and figuratively – to have the boss on your side.

Despite a loss to Chris Cariaso at Saturday’s UFC 144 event, Takeya Mizugaki has been awarded his win bonus for the performance.

UFC president Dana White, who felt Mizugaki won the fight, confirmed the additional payment at UFC 144’s post-event press conference.

Cariaso (13-3 MMA, 3-1 UFC) and Mizugaki (15-7-2 MMA, 2-2 UFC) fought on the FX-televised preliminary card of UFC 144, which took place at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. Mizugaki, though, go no hometown scores, and though MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) scored the fight in his favor via a 30-27 score, the judges disagreed, and Cariaso earned the unanimous-decision victory with 29-28 scores across the board.

An otherwise reserved UFC 144 crowd booed in disagreement. And immediately after the bantamweight fight, White also headed to Twitter with a dissenting voice.

“Is it me or did Mizugaki just get screwed by the judges!?” he wrote.

Most observers shared the sentiments, of course. So following the event, White tried to make things right. He gave Mizugaki a spot on the press-conference dais (seats are usually reserved only for winners and main-event fighters) and confirmed Mizugaki will take him twice the base pay he otherwise would have.

“I’m not a judge, but when I think something is wrong and needs to be righted, well, he’s here, and he got his win bonus,” White said.

Because the UFC acts as its own commission for overseas shows like the one in Japan, UFC 144’s disclosed paydays will not be released publicly, so it’s not clear how much the UFC’s gift is worth. However, two fights ago, Mizugaki made $12,000 to show at UFC 132 (and would have earned $12,000 as a win bonus if victorious), though his fight purses likely have increased since then.

The loss prohibited Mizugaki, a former WEC title challenger, from notching his first back-to-back losses in more than three years. He’s alternated between wins and losses in his nine fights under the Zuffa banner.

As the UFC 189 tour made its last stop in Dublin, featherweight champ Jose Aldo was met with a torrent of abuse from the Irish fans. It might have been unpleasant, but it might also have been just what he needed.